Read My Interview with the Baltimore Business Journal

April 19, 2018

I'm excited and grateful for the feature on my clothing line in the April 13th issue of the Baltimore Business Journal. It was fun speaking with the reporter and then seeing the article in print! The first question she asked me is why my website makes a point of saying that my clothing is not "athleisure." That's something I've thought about a lot and goes to the heart of my entire design philosophy. As I explain in the interview, my goal is to create clothing that is as comfortable as athletic wear, but beautiful and suitable for wearing to work:

"I was interested in clothes that felt like athletic wear. But I knew [the word athleisure] had become kind of the stereotype — that look like Adidas with a stripe going down the side or clothes that are a little more simple. I wanted to differentiate that my clothes are actually appropriate for work. They have more formal fabrics mixed in like silk, Tencel, twill and other fabrics that are a little more expensive but still make you feel that what your wearing is soft and easy to move in."

The article refers to my designs as "professional leisurewear" and I think that captures what I'm striving for -- clothing that is artistic but contemporary, comfortable but stylish, and that feels wonderful to wear.

Here's the article:

Erin Draper was that 6-year-old who was constantly sketching clothes.

Somewhere along the line, said the now 28-year-old, "I found out from somebody that could be a real job."

So when Draper’s family moved from Connecticut to Miami just before high school, she attended an art and design magnet school. She summered with an aunt in Ellicott City and spent those high school seasons in Laurel working for designer Lee Andersen before attending Parsons School of Design in New York. After graduation, Draper returned to Maryland to work full time for Andersen for a few years.

In 2015, Draper stepped out on her own with a line of women’s clothing that she approaches as "works of art" meant to be as comfortable as yoga wear. Creative seaming, color blocking and draping are key to the clothing she designs and produces with the help of a seamstress. Read More.